Marianne Walker
Reclaiming the city through graffiti: An exploration of graffiti and gentrification in Birmingham and Barcelona.
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Marianne is a doctoral researcher at the Institute for Media and Creative Industries at Loughborough University London. Her research is funded by Techne and she is interested in the use of public space, art and community activism.
Marianne holds an undergraduate degree in Politics and Sociology from the University of Leicester. She also holds an MA in Sociology and Demography from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain. She has also worked as a research assistant on European H2020 projects focusing on civil society and solidarity.
PhD research description
Marianne's research aims to explore how gentrification alters graffiti’s capacity to spread messages of resistance or generate counter mobilisation. With strategies of gentrification often including the appropriation of cultural and artistic practices for capital, including graffiti, Marianne's research addresses to what extent does graffiti still fare as a tool of resistance. Once a deviant act, overtly presenting counter values to the status quo by its mere existence, how does graffiti fare as a tool of resistance? Can it still provoke change in public opinion and how do artists and activists manage this?
PhD supervisors
Thomas Tufte and Patria Roman-Velazquez.
Awards, grants or scholarships received
Techne scholarship.